On December 5, the First Yangtze River Delta Korean Speech Contest, also known as 17th Anhui Province “Soonchunhyang Cup” Korean Speech Contest was held at Hefei University (HFU). Ren Yong, President of HFU and Kim Yong-ha, Vice President of Soonchunhyang University (SCH), attended the opening ceremony.

In his speech, Ren Yong highlighted the significance of hosting this contest. Since 2008, HFU has hosted the “Soonchunhyang Cup” Korean Speech Contest for seventeen consecutive years, which has played a vital role in promoting Sino-Korean educational exchanges and cultivation of talents specialized in Korean. The teams in this year’s contest have been expanded and come from the entire Yangtze River Delta region, which will facilitate the sharing of educational resources in the area.

Vice President Kim warmly welcomed the participating faculty members and students, and expressed his gratitude for the support from all parties, emphasizing that the contest serves as a vital platform for cooperation between two universities and cultural exchanges between China and South Korea. He also introduced the educational philosophy, academic achievements, and international collaborations of SCH.

In the finals, students from 26 universities showcased their talents in fluent Korean. After fierce competition, Wang Jiawei from Nanjing University won the Grand Prize, while Xu Wenbin from Zhejiang Dongfang Polytechnic earned the Gold Award. The Silver Awards went to Xiang Yirui from Shanghai International Studies University and Guan Ya’nan from Anhui University of Chinese Medicine. Bronze Awards were presented to Wang Jiaojiao from Hefei University, Zhou Jingwen from Anhui Foreign Studies University, and Shi Li from Yancheng Teachers University. Vice President Kim and Vice President of HFU, Chen Xiu, along with other officials, presented the awards to the winners and their tutors.

The successful hosting of this contest demonstrated the outstanding achievements in the teaching of Korean among universities in the Yangtze River Delta region. There is hope for more activities in the future to promote educational exchanges between China and South Korea.